1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to liquid compositions including hypohalite species, e.g., as used to bleach, clean, or otherwise treat a surface. In addition to such compositions, the invention relates to methods of using such compositions.
2. Description of Related Art
Sodium hypochlorite is a highly effective cleaning, bleaching and sanitizing agent that is widely used in cleaning and sanitizing various hard and soft surfaces, in laundry care, etc. Although highly effective, sodium hypochlorite is prone to degradation over time, such that a significant fraction of the hypochlorite is lost relatively quickly (e.g., over a period of days or weeks). In addition, many adjuvants whose addition would be desirable tend to quickly react with hypochlorite, further reducing stability of the formulation, while also limiting choices among otherwise desirable adjuvants.
Because of such inherent stability issues, there has been an effort to increase the stability of hypochlorite containing compositions by inclusion of various additives, such as sodium hydroxide, phosphate stabilizers, etc. While these efforts have been shown to increase the stability of the resulting liquid composition, they often also exhibit negative or undesirable side effects. For example, the addition of sodium hydroxide or other soluble, strong base hydroxides to such aqueous liquid compositions greatly increases their pH. At such very high pH values the liquid compositions can be very caustic, causing damage to surfaces into which they come in contact. In addition, inclusion of such components often does not address the issue of hypochlorite reactivity with otherwise desirable adjuvants.
As such, there continues to be a need for liquid compositions including hypohalite active species which exhibit improved stability, particularly compositions that might reduce or minimize undesirable side effects associated with alternative stabilized hypochlorite compositions, and/or broaden choices available in adjuvant selection while maintaining stability.